party box insider: witch hat cupcakes

Learn how to make these spooky (and delicious!) witch hat cupcakes featured in our Halloween Box photoshoot!

One of my favourite desserts we made for the Party Box photoshoot was the witch hat cupcakes in the kid’s Halloween Box. They were so cute and actually really simple to make, but they stole the show a little bit. We shared the treats with friends and family after the shoot (because even we can’t eat all that ourselves) for a little early Halloween snacking and people are still talking about them. So obvs that means we’re sharing the tutorial on how you can make your own to feature on your Halloween party table!

What You Need:

Wilton 2D (for the cupcake frosting, so you can use whichever you prefer for that!)

First, mix some black icing dye (I have a lot of success with the Wilton dyes because I don’t find it adds a flavour, but I also can’t taste the difference between Coke and Pepsi so use your own judgement) with water to create an edible paint. I suggested we frost the whole cones but Fernanda (who is apparently much more cool headed) calmly suggested this method which was awesome. Use a little bit of water and a dab of icing dye and just mix up as much as you need. It worked super well and didn’t dry out the cone, which we were surprised about. You’ll probably need two coats to get them as black as you’d like. Once you have enough “paint”, use a paintbrush (one you haven’t used for paint before, obviously) to paint your cones.

Once they’re dry, use scissors to trim the open part so that they’re even. Do this over a baking sheet or something because it’s pretty messy, but it isn’t as hard as you’d think. You want the cone to have a bit of an angle on one side (so it balances well and looks legit) but also one that won’t overwhelm your cupcake.

Using your Wilton 104 tip, pipe a line of icing around the base of the cone. This will be the “belt” around the hat. You can add a buckle if you want to, but we found it looked cute without one. We picked purple because it worked with out party colours, but you can try different ones too!

Use melting chocolates (from Bulk Barn) or Candy Melts (I hate those) to make discs. These will be the base for your hat to sit on. If you’ve never used them before, you just melt them down and pour them into a piping bag (a disposable one if possible, it’s awful to clean) and draw on wax paper. We popped ours into the freezer because we’re impatient, but they’ll also harden on their own if you have the time.

Next, frost your cupcakes! We were going for a “witch hair” look with the bold green, but we stuck with a classic Witlon 2D for the shape because I love it. You could get crazy and go for a more “hair” like tip.

Stick the cooled (and hardened!) “bases” on the frosted cupcakes while they’re still fresh. The icing will adhere the base really well, and since we aren’t attaching the hat to the base it’s good for something to be super secure haha.

Once all the bases are on the cupcakes, set a cone on each base. We didn’t bother attaching them because we’re so laissez faire. Just kidding we actually found they balanced super well thanks to the cutting step, so it wasn’t an issue. We didn’t lose any of them, PLUS it meant it was easy to take the cones off for transport (you don’t consider height of cupcakes until you try to fit witch hats in a carrier. Bad news bears).

And that’s that! Aren’t they sweet? The turned out super cute, and really for a minimal amount of effort, which is perfect for throwing kids parties since generally you’ve got a million more pressing details to worry about. Plus they really did look awesome on the party table, so you’ll be sure to wow all of your guests!

Will you be making these for your halloween party? If so make sure to send us some pictures so we can feature them on the blog!

And in case you missed it, check out our other Box exclusive on how to make watermelon brains here!